International Women's Day Gets Mixed Support from Global Fast Food

Here's what McDonald's and KFC have done to mark the day.

A McDonald’s in Lynwood, California has flipped the big golden arches on its sign upside-down to form a big “W” to mark International Women’s Day, which is today, March 8.

McDonald’s chose the restaurant because it was opened by Patricia Williams, who franchised her first McDonald’s restaurant in 1987. A promotional video showing the sign being flipped goes on to say that Williams now owns 18 Big Mac emporiums, along with her two daughters, Kerri Harper-Howie and Nicole Enearu.

“Today in the United States, 62 percent of McDonald’s employees are female, six out of 10 of restaurant managers are women and we have one of the largest supplier diversity programs designed to support our global operations,” writes Wendy Lewis, the global fast food chain’s chief diversity officer.

Meanwhile, KFC Malaysia has replaced its Colonel Sanders founder with his wife, Claudia, releasing this photo of the white-goateed Southern cook spoon-feeding his domestic partner:

Here comes the airplane.

“It is hard to imagine but KFC would not be where it is today if not for Claudia, wife of Colonel Sanders. While the Colonel created the secret recipe and ran the company, Mrs. Sanders mixed and even shipped the spices to restaurants across the country — often late into the night,” the website declared.

Starbucks announced on Thursday it would “create opportunities for 250,000 women and girls across the world” in collaboration with Malala Yousafzai’s organization, the Malala Fund, to “promote leadership and economic empowerment opportunities for women and families in coffee, tea and cocoa growing communities.”

Wendy’s, named after the daughter of its founder, Dave Thomas, had not announced any IWD initiatives as of Thursday morning on its social media or website. Dairy Queen, which also takes its name from the title of a female monarch, was also silent in marking IWD on its public-facing digital channels.

Pizza Hut, another of the world’s largest fast food chains, had not announced any IWD initiatives on its website or social media platforms on Thursday morning. Neither had Burger King. Neither had Dunkin Donuts, but it has recently debuted Girl Scout cookie-inspired desert shakes, and announced it would let Girl Scouts set up shop in its stores on weekends through March 18.